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PASSENGER VESSEL NEWS ‘Superstar Virgo’ homeports in Hong Kong One of the world’s largest cruise operators, Star Cruises, has made Hong Kong the homeport for its Asia flagship. As the flagship superliner docked at Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong, its owners said that their choice of the city as homeport offers the ideal platform to capitalise on the region’s burgeoning industry. Leading the charge will be the 286-metre, 1,960-passenger ‘Superstar Virgo’. “We believe that Asia’s demographics, emerging new ports and cruise terminals in cities like Xiamen, Sanya and Shanghai in addition to the Hong Kong A newly-signed contract between the New Zealand Maritime School and the Carnival Group, owner of the world’s most famous cruise liners, is expected to result in fifteen engine and fifteen deck cadets joining cruise ships each year. Cruise New Zealand chairperson Craig Harris says the opportunities provided by the deal are quite significant. “It is going to lead to the future harbourmasters, people coming into the shoreside operations industries.” government’s tender process for the Kai Tak cruise terminal, plus the Singapore marine south cruise terminal project ... will contribute to the dynamic growth in Cadetship deal struck with Carnival “It has opened up a whole new stream for these cadets to go right through to get Master’s qualifications.” Mr. Harris says the cruise ship industry and the Maritime School, with sponsorship involvement from McKay Shipping, are helping address the shortfall in seagoing opportunities for New Zealand cadets. He says this situation reached a head about a decade ago, with opportunities within commercial cargo carriers disappearing. the Asian cruise business,” Star Cruises Group president David Chua Ming-Huap told Hong Kong newspaper The Standard. Mr. Chua also said that although many cities had the necessary hardware, other ports lacked Hong Kong’s unique software in terms of service and local attractions. He said the deployment of the ‘Superstar Virgo’ to Hong Kong also aimed at capturing a larger segment of the Chinese tourism market, adding that the company’s positioning of satellite offices in the mainland, and its understanding of the Asian market, gave it an edge. The Carnival Group’s Cunard Line star, ‘Queen Victoria’ 20 May 2008 SHIPS AND SHIPPING